Into the soup

The process begins in complete darkness. In a darkroom, the exposed film reel is transferred to a light-tight magazine.

Safely protected from light, which would ‘fog’ the footage and make it unusable, the film is then taken to a huge processing machine manufactured by Photomec.

The magazine is installed into the machine and the exposed film is fed into the processor.

The machine spools the film through a number of chemical solutions, each of which does a specific job. The first solution removes the film’s backing, making it transparent.

The next chemical mixture is a developer – Kodak’s patented ECN2 colour negative solution. This solution oxidises the exposed silver halide on the film, fixing the images captured.

Next, an acidic liquid stops the developing process from going on for longer than is necessary. The film is no longer light-sensitive, and can safely be exposed to natural light.

A bleach bath converts excess silver on the film into a compound that can easily be removed by the a washing solution. Between each solution, wiper blades remove excess solution, preventing contamination between one stage and the next.

Now fully developed, images can be seen on the film. The entire reel is fed through a drying cabinet which removes any excess moisture. The drying time must be precisely calculated: any extra drying time will distort the film strip, while film that is too moist is liable to damage editing or telecine equipment.

Once dried, the processed negative film is fed out of the processing machine and returned to the can it was delivered in.

In the film and television industry film was sometimes said to be “in the soup”, referring to the complex and mysterious mixture of chemicals required to develop film.

“Making up” a processed negative

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With the film processing complete, the negative must be ‘made up’ before being sent to a film editor or scanned in a telecine machine.

i-dailies technician Jason Doyle adds ‘leader’ – a section of blank film that can be safely handled – to the head and tail of the film reel.

He attaches leader to the processed negative using a tape splicer – a device which is used to make quick, reliable joins between one piece of film and another.

He also punches holes in the negative at the beginning and end of the reel. These serve as a reference for editors and telecine technicians.

After handling the film, Jason finally cleans the film, places it safely in a plastic bag, and returns it once again to the original film can.

The negative is ready for editing or telecine.

ADAPT Videos Catalogue

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Rights and Funding

ADAPT was hosted by the Department of Media Arts at Royal Holloway, University of London. The project received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement No 323626).